Arthropods - Western Riverside Co. - UCR CCB [ds641]

The Western Riverside County Multiple Species Conservation Plan (WRCMSHCP) is the largest conservation plan in southern California and seeks to protect approximately 500,000 acres of natural habitats (Dudek and Associates 2003). The University of California Riverside's Center for Conservation Biology (CCB) began developing methods and collecting data to describe coastal sage scrub and riparian communities in the WRCMSHCP preserve system as part of the Community Monitoring Program (Barrows et al. 2005; CCB 2005). This data was used to help determine the status of many of the 146 sensitive species protected by the WRCMSHCP plan and provide information on ecological relationships and processes important in managing these communities. CCB monitored CSS and riparian habitats, which both support large numbers of the Covered Species and are subject to anthropogenic influences. Surveys for birds (see associated BIOS layers), vegetation communities, reptiles, small mammals and soil arthropods were conducted in 2004 (Allen et al. 2005). Arthropods are early indicators of environmental change and also are an important food resource for the birds found within the CSS and riparian habitats. A reduction in native arthropods could have an adverse effect on species that forage on native insects (Allen et al. 2005). The data on ants collected from these surveys was used to assess habitat quality, resistance to invasive species, and presence/absence of invasive species known to negatively impact the target bird species. Arthropods were sampled using pitfall traps following the methods from Prentice et al. (2001) and were conducted at the same time as vegetation sampling. A 12-oz plastic cup was dug into the ground next to each sampling point. A plastic funnel inside the cup was directed into a smaller cup containing biodegradable detergent and salt. The trap was covered with a small board placed on wooden blocks. Pitfall traps were set out for three days. For CSS monitoring, a total of 128 points were established that spanned the transition zone from coastal sage scrub to non-native grassland with survey points 250 m apart. Arthropod sampling was conducted at these points from July 26 - August 13, 2004. Within the riparian corridor habitats, CCB biologists established survey points spaced at 200 m intervals through the length of the corridor, for a total of 281 survey points. Arthropod sampling was conducted at the riparian points from August 10 - October 15, 2004 (Allen et al. 2005). Samples were sorted and identified in the lab by an expert versed in the local arthropod fauna. Arthropods were identified to the order and where possible to family, subfamily, genus and species. If possible, species were noted as either native or exotic. The number of individuals for each taxon that were found in the pit fall trap was counted. The number of native soil arthropods at the riparian survey points was included in logistic regression models to predict riparian species occurrence in the Plan Area as part of the habitat quality variable (Allen et al. 2005). This data layer represents the results of the arthropod pitfall sampling and was compiled as part of the Southern California Data Integration Project. REFERENCES Allen, M.F., John T. Rotenberry, Kristine L. Preston, Ken J. Halama, Tracy Tennant, Cameron W. Barrows, Vanessa Rivera del Rio, Antonio Celis Murrillo, Xiongwen Chen, and Veronique M. Rorive. 2005. CCB 2005: Towards developing a monitoring framework for Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plans. Part I. Barrows, C.W., M.B. Swartz, W.L. Hodges, M.F. Allen, J.T. Rotenberry, and B.L. Li. 2005. A framework for monitoring multiple species conservation plans. Journal of Wildlife Management 69: 1333-1345. Center for Conservation Biology. 2005. Western Riverside County Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan. Calif. Dept. of Fish and Game, Inland Ecosystems of California: Resource Assessment Program. Dudek and Associates. 2003. Western Riverside County Multiple Species Conservation Plan. Final MSHCP, County of Riverside, Riverside California. Prentice, T.R., J.C. Burger, W.R. Icenogle, and R.A. Redak. 2001. Spiders from Riversidean coastal sage scrub with comparisons to Diegan scrub fauna (Arachnida: Araneae). Pan-Pacific Entomologist 77:90-122.

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Recommended Citation: Center for Conservation Biology (CCB). (2005). UCR_CCB_Arthropods2004 [ds XXX]. Digital Data. Biogeographic Information and Observation System (BIOS). Retrieved on DATE from http://bios.dfg.ca.gov.